Genius Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHIJKLMN AOPQRSPTMM UVMWKXYZGA2B2C2AD2IE 2F2G2H2I2PJ2K2DPH2PH 2AK

Do I believe sayest thou what the masters of wisdom would teach meA
And what their followers' band boldly and readily swearB
Cannot I ever attain to true peace excepting through knowledgeC
Or is the system upheld only by fortune and lawD
Must I distrust the gently warning impulse the preceptE
That thou Nature thyself hast in my bosom impressedF
Till the schools have affixed to the writ eternal their signetG
Till a mere formula's chain binds down the fugitive soulH
Answer me then for thou hast down into these deeps e'en descendedI
Out of the mouldering grave thou didst uninjured returnJ
Is't to thee known what within the tomb of obscure works is hiddenK
Whether yon mummies amid life's consolations can dwellL
Must I travel the darksome road The thought makes me trembleM
Yet I will travel that road if 'tis to truth and to rightN
-
Friend hast thou heard of the golden age Full many a storyA
Poets have sung in its praise simply and touchingly sungO
Of the time when the holy still wandered over life's pathwaysP
When with a maidenly shame every sensation was veiledQ
When the mighty law that governs the sun in his orbitR
And that concealed in the bud teaches the point how to moveS
When necessity's silent law the steadfast the changelessP
Stirred up billows more free e'en in the bosom of manT
When the sense unerring and true as the hand of the dialM
Pointed only to truth only to what was eternalM
-
Then no profane one was seen then no initiate was met withU
And what as living was felt was not then sought 'mongst the deadV
Equally clear to every breast was the precept eternalM
Equally hidden the source whence it to gladden us sprangW
But that happy period has vanished And self willed presumptionK
Nature's godlike repose now has forever destroyedX
Feelings polluted the voice of the deities echo no longerY
In the dishonored breast now is the oracle dumbZ
Save in the silenter self the listening soul cannot find itG
There does the mystical word watch o'er the meaning divineA2
There does the searcher conjure it descending with bosom unsulliedB2
There does the nature long lost give him back wisdom againC2
If thou happy one never hast lost the angel that guards theeA
Forfeited never the kind warnings that instinct holds forthD2
If in thy modest eye the truth is still purely depictedI
If in thine innocent breast clearly still echoes its callE2
If in thy tranquil mind the struggles of doubt still are silentF2
If they will surely remain silent forever as nowG2
If by the conflict of feelings a judge will ne'er be requiredH2
If in its malice thy heart dims not the reason so clearI2
Oh then go thy way in all thy innocence preciousP
Knowledge can teach thee in naught thou canst instruct her in muchJ2
Yonder law that with brazen staff is directing the strugglingK2
Naught is to thee What thou dost what thou mayest will is thy lawD
And to every race a godlike authority issuesP
What thou with holy hand formest what thou with holy mouth speakestH2
Will with omnipotent power impel the wondering sensesP
Thou but observest not the god ruling within thine own breastH2
Not the might of the signet that bows all spirits before theeA
Simple and silent thou goest through the wide world thou hast wonK

Friedrich Schiller



Rate:
(1)



Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme

Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation


Write your comment about Genius poem by Friedrich Schiller


 

Recent Interactions*

This poem was read 5 times,

This poem was added to the favorite list by 0 members,

This poem was voted by 0 members.

(* Interactions only in the last 7 days)

New Poems

Popular Poets